An Athens resident wants the town to shed some pounds.
After watching the Biggest Loser
resident Deeder Yanity decided to start Athens' own weight loss competition called Athens Takes it Off.
It is such a motivational show that I thought it would work in Athens Yanity said.
To compete, residents can form teams of three to five people and race to lose the most collective weight by March 12. The team that loses the most will win $1,000 and memberships to either the Athens Community Center or Ohio University WellWorks.
People who sign up will form teams of three to five people, pay $50, receive t-shirts and go to the mandatory initial weigh-in. Andrew Chiki, the city's fitness program specialist, said the program is set up with different teams to provide a support atmosphere for the participants.
The funding for the program comes from many business and private sponsors in the form on money, memberships, time and effort.
Registration began Oct. 10 and will run until Dec. 14. Two teams have officially signed up and an additional seven teams have confirmed their participation.
The competition kicks off in January.
If the response is positive to the program, Chiki said that he hopes to see the program become an annual event to combat obesity.
As of 2008, 28 percent of the people in Athens County are overweight and 30 percent are obese, while about 36 percent of the people in Ohio are overweight and 26.5 percent are obese, according to The Ohio Health Department.
Heidi Anderson, WellWork's education and special events coordinator, would like to see these statistics changed throughout the whole county.
I believe our health issues in our country are directly related to our eating habits lack exercise
and our overweight issues
she said.
Throughout the course of the competition five expert speakers will make appearances at the community center to talk about healthy lifestyles, Chiki said.
Some of the speakers include Kim Valentour, the director of WellWorks who will give a presentation on behavior change and Francie Astrom, who is a nutrition counselor at WellWorks, will be speaking about eating healthy.
At the end of the program, the goal of weight loss is not the sole purpose.
We don't want people to just lose weight
it's about keeping it off and being healthy
Chiki said.
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Kayla Carpenter
